Sarkozy Supports Egypt, Saudi Arabia Over Syria Summit

French President Nicola Sarkozy said Friday he supported the decisions by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah not to participate in the Arab summit that is planned to open Saturday in Damascus.

Al-Hayat daily reported that Sarkozy held a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London in which he said that the fact that large countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia will not show up at the conference has "great significance."

Sarkozy said that Syria has been asked numerous times to change its policy on Lebanon and to stop interfering in its western neighbor's business. He called upon Syrian strongman Bashar Assad to heed the message that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are sending him.